The United States struck Iran's Qeshm Island on Monday in the latest of a series of limited strikes Washington has secretly carried out against the country in recent weeks, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing US officials.

Qeshm sits at the mouth of the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway through which about a fifth of the world's crude oil and liquefied natural gas previously flowed, and is home to a large underground missile site, a naval base and a major desalination plant. The island has been targeted before in the eight-month conflict between the US and Iran, which began in late February.

Defensive strikes, kept quiet

Some of the officials described the assaults as defensive in nature, aimed at preventing Iran from having the freedom to attack commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz. In one incident on Monday, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps fired a surface-to-air missile at a US fighter jet, which fired back in self-defence, the officials said. In a separate incident the same day, US forces intercepted an IRGC missile that originated from Qeshm and was targeting commercial shipping.

Unlike earlier rounds of the war, the US has not publicly announced the attacks. Washington has been purposefully keeping the campaign quiet so as not to signal any intention of resuming major combat operations, one official said. The US Central Command did not immediately respond to requests for comment, and explosions around Qeshm were reported on social media on Monday.

Diplomacy running in parallel

The strike came as President Donald Trump played down the prospect of a return to full-scale war after Tuesday's midterm elections. "We had a war with Iran. We won," Mr. Trump told reporters on Monday, and when asked whether he was considering striking Iran after the midterms, he replied "no" — although administration officials said he was still weighing all his options.

At the same time, US and Iranian negotiators are pushing for a peace deal. Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei told reporters in Tehran on Monday that "the ball is in the US court" on any prospective agreement, after days of Iranian talks with Qatari mediators ended with altered proposals but no breakthrough. The Journal also reported that Centcom chief Adm. Brad Cooper visited the White House last week to brief Mr. Trump, and that the US has told Gulf nations to prepare for a short and intense operation shortly after the election.

Markets react

Oil prices rose in early Asian trade on Tuesday after the report, with Brent crude up 0.5 per cent to $105.25 a barrel, adding a risk premium back into a market that had begun pricing in a more diplomatic path. Brent had settled 7.63 per cent lower at $104.77 on Monday. The coming days will show whether the secret-strike campaign and the parallel diplomacy converge into a deal — or whether the Gulf is headed for another escalation once the midterm votes are counted.